Improvement in harvesting-machines



J- BRADLEY. H arvester Rake.

' Patented Sept. 20, 1864.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JEREMY BRADLEY, OF CEDAR FALLS, IOWA.

lMPROVEMEN T lN HARVESTING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 14,277, dated September20, 1864.

To all whom' it may concern:

Be it known that I, JEREMY 'BRADLEY, of Cedar Falls, county of BlackHawk, State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Harvesting-Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being bad to theaccompanyingdrawings, making a part of this specification, in which-Figure l is a perspective view ofa harvesting-machine with myimprovements applied to it. Fig. 2 is a. horizontal sectional view of aportion of the machine, showing my improved mode of communicating motionto the sickle and rake. Fig. 3 is an enlarged view, showing theconstruction and operation of the rake.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the severalfigures.

The object of my invention is to combine an endless band or chain rakingapparatus with the platform and the driving-power of abarvesting-machine in such manner that while the former can bepractically operated by the driving-wheel through the medium of a singlejointed shaft-connection the vertical height of thc'platform can be verymuch reduced, and

the surface thereof upon which the grain falls,-

brought nearly on a level with the cutting apparatus, all as will behereinafter described.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, 1 willdescribe its construction and operation.

The wheel-frame of themachine is composed of two parallel beams, A,which are suitably secured at their rear ends to the forward beam of theplatform,which is at right angles to the wheel-frame. The driving-wheelB has its aXle-bearin gs in standards aa, erected on the frame A, andimmediately over this wheel B, and supported by a frame, 0, on thewheelframe A, is the drivers .seat 0 and the platform 0, upon which thedriver can rest his feet.

On the inner side of the wheel-frame Ai. 0., the side next the standinggrain-and near the rear end-of this frame, the reel-post b is erected,for sustaining one end of the reel-shaft D, the opposite end ofwhich'shaft is sustained by the longitudinal beam b, which isdirectlyover the divider E, as shown in Fig. 1. This reel, which may beconstructed in any suitable manher, is driven by means of a belt, N,which is carried over pulleys c c.

strips 6 6, extending from one end to the other thereof, with spacesbetween them for the admission of the rake-teeth during the operatingstrokes of'the rakes; and the lower surface or bottom of this platformis formed of. a thin board or plate, G, which prevents the raketeethfrom touching the ground during their return or inactive strokes. Theforward transverse beam 0 of the platform may be made of such width asto serve as the finger-bar, and also as a means for connecting theplatform rigidly to the wheel-frame A, as above described.

Having thus given a general description of the frame-work of the machineand the mode of supporting the same, I will now describe theconstruction and operation of those parts i of the machine which areemployed in carrying out my invention.

Near the ends of the platform, and inclosed therein, are twolongitudinal shafts, d d, one of which, 61, is shown in Fig. 1, and theother, 01, is shown in Fig. 3. These shafts are both parallel to the topsurface of the platform and arranged at right angles to the finger-beam6'. Thus these two shafts are adapted for receiving around groovedhubsff, formed on them, the endless chains 9 g, which are prevented fromslipping around their respective shafts by the use of spurs projectingfrom the said hubs and entering the links of the chains. To theseendless chains f f the rake-bars h h are connected by means of collars,(shown in Fig. 2,)

which allow these bars to vibrate or rock freely on the chains, as willbe hereinafter further explained. Each rake-bar has a number of teethsecured to it corresponding to the number of slots in the surface of theplatform. The ends of rake-bars h are flattened at i i, Figs. 1, 2, and3, and these flat portions bear upon and are guided by the side strips,H H, as the rakes perform their delivery-stroke across the platform. Thestrips H serve as the lower bearings for therake-bars, while the thinplates forming the top of the platform keep the rake-bars from turningduring their delivery-stroke. The extreme ends of the strips H arecurved for the purpose of allowing the rake-bars to pass around them,and at a suitable point on those ends ofstrips H nearest the shaft dtoothed segments j are formed, which engage with corresponding teeth,3', formed on or near each end of'both rake-bars,

and give nearly a half-turn to these bars as they are about to commencetheir raking strokes, thus throwing up the rake-teeth in a position forraking the grain of the platform, in which position the teeth willremain until they arrive at the delivery end of the same, when they willbe drawn down out ofthe way and moved back below the platform to theirformer position to commenceanother stroke. I Th us it will be seen thatas the rakes move across the platform in the act of delivering the grainthey are firmly held in an upright position, and that when they move inthe opposite direction their teeth drag along the bottom G in a positionnearly parallel to this bottom. By this arrangement I am enabled togreatly reduce the vertical height of the platform, so that the uppersurface thereof will be nearly on a line with the cutting apparatus.

To operate the endless-chain rakes when arranged so near the ground, Iapply side gear, J, to the main wheel B, and communicate motion to theshaft d from this wheel through the medium of a pinion-wheel, 7c, andinclined shaft m, which latter is connected to the forward end of shaft01 by means of a-knucklejoint at 12, Figs. 1 and 2. The knuckle-joint[connection a enables me to communicate the embraces the groove in hubp,while the upper end extends up through theplatform C to a position whereit can be conveniently operated by the driver while sitting in his seat0. When the driver desires to stop or to start the motion of the rakeshe moves the lever L toward or from him, and thus engages or disengagesthe pinion Ir.

On the opposite side of wheel B to ,the'

gearing J a similar arrangement of gearing is applied for communicatingmotion to the sickle S. The pinion spur-wheel it engages with the sidegear, J, and turns the shaft m,

which, being connected to a short crank-wheel shaft, 1', by means ofaknuckle-joint, n, gives a rotary motion to this latter shaft o and areciprocating motion to the sickle. The curved end shoe, 1?, which isarranged beneath the knuckle-joints 'n it, serves not only asa shoe inthis position, but it also prevents loose grass, 850., from entanglingwith said joints.

It will beseen from the above description that the arrangement of thetoothed segments for throwing the rakes into operative position and theknuckle-joint connection with the inclined shaft and adj ustablespur-wheel k, en able me to construct a very simple, cheap, and effectjive raking attachment for harvesters.

By connecting alever, L, to the loose pinion k and arranging this leverafter the manner of lever L the driver can have complete control overboth the raking and cutting apparatuses, and can throw'either or 'bothout of or into operation at pleasure.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 'is- 1. Thecombination of an endless-chain raking apparatus having horizontaldriving shafts with the jointed shafting d m, sliding pinion 70, sidegear, J and lever L, arranged and operating substantially as described.

'2. The toothed segments applied to guides H, in combination with rakeswhich are pivoted to and operated by endless chains, and otherwiseconstructed and adapted for beingbrought into raking position by saidsegments, sub stantially as described.

3. The combination of open slatted platform 6, endless chain of rakes,and toothed segments for turning the rakes at the commencement of theraking stroke.

4. The combination of the two levers L L, pinions k k, inclined shafts mm, drivingwheel B, cutting apparatus, and endless chain of rakes, allarranged and operating substantially as described.

Witness my hand in the matter of my application for a patent onharvester with raking attachment.

JEREMY BRADLEY.

Witnesses:

' R. T. CAMPBELL,

E. SGHAFER.

